ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the effect of audiovisual input on performances elicited with integrated speaking tasks that require the use of listening and speaking skills. It suggests that the use of audiovisual input in integrated listen-speak tasks could facilitate information processing during the listening phase of task completion because learners would have access to both audio and visual input to assist comprehension. A more general authenticity argument for the use of audiovisuals in language assessment is that many real-world target language use domains require the simultaneous processing of visual and aural input. Greater authenticity has been a major argument for the use of audiovisuals in language assessment, given that audiovisuals have been used for several decades as a source of language input in the language classroom. The relative impact of video on performance also relies on the degree to which test takers actually pay attention to the visual input.
